Scars
by frankybadass
Summary: All Rachel wanted was for Finn to be happy. All Finn wanted was to move on. All Quinn wanted was acceptance, and all Puck wanted was to be given a chance. Could these four ever find happiness or would those invisible scars never disappear?
1. Chapter 1

**SCARS - A FINCHEL FANFIC.**

He was depressed. _Again. _Every time the two crossed paths, he would force a smile, but his brown eyes gave him away. His brown eyes opened her eyes to the fact that he wasn't really happy. That smile was merely fake. A forced smile for the sake of making sure she didn't worry about him. What he didn't realize was that, the feigned smiles just made her more worrisome. They made her wonder if he would ever get better. If he would ever move past events that had taken place nearly two months prier. It was almost as though Quinn Fabray and Noah Puckerman had permanently scarred him. Permanently made him a bitter, depressed, empty shell of the guy he used to be. A guy who always smiled. That guy was gone. In his place was a stranger. Rachel Berry didn't know who Finn Hudson was anymore.

* * *

"You'd think he'd be happy to be free of the clutches that are Quinn Fabray."

"I know. It's like, it's been nearly two months. Time to move on already. Right?"

"I think he actually wanted that baby. I don't think he cares about Quinn."

"Of course he cares about Quinn. They were in love, dumb ass."

"Uh, they couldn't have been that much in love if she went behind his back and had sex with Puck."

"Every girl has had sex with Puck."

"Uhm, you haven't, and besides, Puck shouldn't have done that to his supposed best friend."

"Puck has no morals."

"I don't think the guy knows what friendship means."

"It certainly doesn't mean sleep with your best friend's girl. That's for sure."

Rachel slammed her locker door shut much louder than was necessary, hearing the whispers of her fellow cast mates. This had been going on for nearly a month and a half, and it was all because Finn walked around looking as though someone had run over his puppy. If it weren't for the fact that she was still utterly in love with him, she was sure she'd find it almost pathetic.

_No you wouldn't_, her mind seemed to throw at her, and she knew there was no use in arguing with her own thoughts. They were right, after all. It was likely she would never find Finn's actions pathetic. They were understandable, in a way. He had been so excited for that baby(though, a tad apprehensive), and he had done everything he could to help Quinn with what was once thought to be his child. He'd given her his favorite blanket(he had told this story to her during one of their many late night phone conversations). He had even been working at a restaurant in a _wheelchair _to help pay off the doctor's bills. All for a child that he soon learned wasn't his, and it hurt her to think it was partly her fault Finn was so depressed. She told him the truth out of jealousy, and now that the truth was out, he was broken. The Finn Hudson she had fallen in love with was gone and had been replaced by a stranger.

"Hey, Rach." Said stranger now stood before her. Unlike before, he didn't sound happy when greeting her. He just sounded sad. It took everything in her to not walk away.

"Finn." That was how she greeted him nowadays. He didn't question it. He couldn't bring himself to care. There was no energy left _for_ him to care.

"I was just, uh, wondering if you were still going to sing the solo during _Glee_ so I won't have to." He'd asked her to do so a few nights ago. She had only agreed to get him off the phone. The sadness in his voice was always too much for her to bear.

"Of course, Finn. I promised. I don't break promises." He knew that. He knew that, unlike _her_, Rachel would never break her promises. She would always be honest with him. No matter the circumstances. She was the only one he could trust these days.

"I know." The words were monotonous. No feeling. Just... words. He smiled. It was forced, like always. And, just the same as always, she forced one back.

And just like the day before, and all the days before it for the past month and a half, the two went their separate ways, not bothering to waste words when neither knew what to say.

* * *

All Finn Hudson wanted to do as he walked away from Rachel and headed into Spanish Class, was hit his head off a wall. Or punch something. He could barely say two words to the brunette. It used to be that he couldn't go a night without talking to her on the phone. The late night conversations had always made him happier. Now, they just made him sad. Sad because, he knew he was hurting her. He was hurting her and he couldn't put a stop to it. He wanted to be happy again. For himself, and for his mother, but even more important than that, he wanted to be happy again for Rachel. So he could, once and for all, let her know how he truly feels about her. Let her know that, he's not angry with her. That he doesn't blame her for this.

He wanted to tell her all that, but he could never bring himself to do so. Every time he passed Quinn in the hallways, his eyes would linger to her ever-growing baby bump, and he'd once again be reminded of the day he had found out that he wasn't fathering his girlfriend's(_ex_-girlfriend's) child.

It wasn't even Quinn he missed(though, a small part of him did miss having the blonde in his life). It was the unborn child he missed. Quinn's unborn baby girl. The baby girl that everyone had once thought of as his. A baby girl he had been convinced was his. But, it wasn't his. It was Noah Puckerman's, his supposed best friend. He just couldn't bring himself to accept it. To accept that the child he had grown attached to wasn't his after all.

"All right, class. Open your workbooks to page fifty-five." Mr. Schue's voice dragged Finn out of his thoughts, but only for a moment. The minute he opened his workbook, he tuned Mr. Schue out, trying to forget the world around him.

* * *

"_Did you try to live on your own when your burnt down the house and home? Did you stand too close to the fire, like a liar looking for forgiveness, from a stone?_" Quinn Fabray sighed to herself, letting the words that were escaping Rachel's mouth sink in. What she wanted more than anything was forgiveness. Not just from Finn, but from everyone.

From her parents, from the Gleeks, and even from _Puck._ He was trying and all she had ever done was push him away. She was pushing him away, when really, what she needed the most was acceptance. And Puck accepted her. He accepted every flaw. Everything about her. And all she was doing was pushing him out of her life. She was afraid to let him get close. Not afraid that he would mess it up, but afraid that _she_, herself, would mess it up. Because that was what she did best. She messed up.

She let people down.

* * *

"_When it's time live and let die, and you can't get another try. Something inside this heart has died. You're in ruins._" _Something inside of me has died_, Finn thought as he watched, mesmerized with Rachel as he always was when he heard her melodic singing voice.

He couldn't help but think that Rachel was the only person who could ever possibly make him feel alive again.

* * *

"_One, 21 guns. Lay down your arms, give up the fight._" As she looked at Finn, she thought about how maybe she should just give up. Give up on him. On any hope that he would move past the past.

"_One 21 guns. Throw up your arms, into the sky. You and I_." But then she looked at him a second time, and thought that maybe, just _maybe_, those broken pieces of his heart could be put together again.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I'm not sure if I want to just keep this drabble or write another chapter. I'm going to attempt a second one and if I can figure out a direction to take this story, I'll most likely continue it.

**Possible Pairings**: (Only if the story continues.) Quinn Fabray/Noah Puckerman. Finn Hudson/Rachel Berry. Noah Puckerman/Rachel Berry friendship. Quinn Fabray/Rachel Berry friendship. May grow into Finn Hudson/Quinn Fabray friendship and Finn Hudson/Noah Puckerman friendship.


	2. Chapter 2

**I made a minor change. Instead of writing this in past tense, I'll be using present. The first chapter is in past tense, obviously, but I'll worry about that later.**

**Puck and Quinn's conversation takes place on a Friday; everything else takes place on a Saturday.  
**

* * *

She knows it's not stupid when she thinks that her head and heart can't hurt any worse than they do right now, because it's just _not_. She's pregnant and _alone _and terrified, and she _hates _it.

It doesn't necessarily help when Mr. Schue pairs her up with Rachel for a duet. She thinks it's ridiculous because she and Rachel have completely different ranges and there's just _no way _she can work with Rachel and be _civil_. It's her fault she's sitting there in the first place, completely isolated from the rest of the club because she screwed up _just once_ and is now having the spawn of Satan.

That's not fair to Puck, though, because he's been sweet, _really _sweet. It's kind of scary, actually, because Puck and _sweet_ don't normally go well in the same sentence, so yeah, she's surprised, too.

(She's still pushing him away, though, and she kind of hates herself for it, but again, she's just scared that she'll screw it up because apparently, that really is what she does best.)

She also realizes that this probably isn't Rachel's fault either(okay, so it's _not_) because it's not like Rachel forced her to get drunk and have sex with Noah Puckerman.

She groans when Rachel _literally _skips over to her after Mr. Schue tells the group to get with their partners and start working, but is kind of shocked when the brunette doesn't say a single word to her, which is really, really weird because she's expecting some long speech about song choices and having to be perfect and _blah, blah, blah_.

"So, uh, are we going to get started on this or what?" she asks, and she thinks that she doesn't _mean _to sound so rude, but it comes off that way anyway because she's talking to _Rachel_, and she kind of hates her.

Only, she doesn't, not really.

She thinks maybe she should, but Rachel only did what she and Puck were too afraid to do(okay, what _she _was too afraid to do, because Puck definitely insisted on telling Finn the truth).

"I, um, well, I was wondering if perhaps you had any ideas for song selections?" Rachel asks timidly, because while it is completely strange for her _not _to take control over Glee assignments, she does not want to do anything to upset Quinn any more than she already has, and to be fair, this is her first altercation with Quinn since their short 'conversation' in the hallway after the truth was revealed, and before then, Quinn despised her anyway, so she is (almost) positive that Quinn isn't all too happy to be working with her right now.

Quinn's not going to lie, she is kind of shocked that Rachel isn't taking control like she normally does. And she's kind of disappointed, too, because she was looking forward to not having to put much effort into this assignment, which, admittedly, is probably very lazy of her, but she's a hormonal _pregnant _teenager, so...

"How about _Beautiful Liar_?" she suggests after another moment of silence has passed(is it weird that she's wishing Rachel would just talk so she won't have to?). Rachel suddenly has this creepy smile on her face(which isn't much of a change from the usual) and Quinn thinks maybe song suggestions is all she needs to get the brunette to talk. "I know it's not normally something you'd be up to doing, but it has a nice beat and it's not a love song, so it won't be strange, and..." She stops herself before she can say anything more, because since when does she talk so much? (She can't help but think maybe she's only talking because for the first time in a month, someone's actually _listening_.)

Rachel actually smiles, because she can't help but think of how nice it is to not be the one rambling for once. "Beyonce and Shakira do have impeccable talent, in both singing and dancing, so, yes, _Beautiful Liar _is a lovely choice." Quinn opens her mouth to speak, but Rachel interrupts her. _Shocker_. "Though, if you don't mind, I'd rather you sing Shakira's portion of the song because I do believe your voice is best fitted within her range, and we may need to adjust the arrangement, only slightly, to best fit my, as well as your, voice."

She opens her mouth to (no doubt) keep going, but Quinn cuts her off. "Okay, Berry, I get it," she sort of snaps, and she actually feels guilty when Rachel frowns at her tone of voice. She realizes that maybe she's being a bit of a bitch, but that's just how she is around Rachel. It's not like she can help it(or maybe she can). "Look, I'm sorry," she apologizes, and she resists the urge to smile when Rachel's frown quickly morphs into a full-blown grin, "I just, that's a great idea. I was going to suggest that, anyway," and she actually was, so she isn't lying.

"Great, then my house, or yours?" It takes Rachel all of, say, two seconds for her to realize what she's just said. She's just, albeit unintentionally, reminded Quinn that she doesn't have a place to call home. "I'm terribly sorry, Quinn. I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay, Ru Paul," Quinn cuts in, and she feels kind of bad when she calls Rachel Ru Paul, but then Rachel smiles and Quinn realizes that's because she didn't say it in the way she used to. The way she said it mere seconds ago made it sound more like a term of endearment than anything else.

The bell rings, which means rehearsal is over, so Quinn immediately grabs her books and clutches them to her chest and Rachel scurries over to Mr. Schuester without so much as a word to Quinn.

"My home," Rachel whispers quickly to Quinn as the blonde makes her way towards the door, and she just nods her head in response, quickly exiting the choir room in hopes of avoiding any type of confrontation with her baby's daddy.

Of course, she should have remembered that hoping something will happen doesn't mean it will, because the second she exits the room, Puck is standing in front of her, and she wants to ignore him, but it's kind of impossible because, well, he's_ Puck_.

"How's our kid?" he asks so quickly she's surprised she doesn't get whiplash.

"_My _child is none of your business, now get out of my way," she snaps harshly, though what she wants to say is _'our kid is great, but i could really use your help because i'm scared and i don't want to do this alone anymore'_, but of course, she can't say that. Well, more like won't.

She thinks Puck looks offended for a moment, and it kind of surprises her when she sees the hurt in his eyes, though it shouldn't because she does realize how harsh she's being and she knows that all Puck wants to do is help. She's just too stubborn to ask for it.

"I have an appointment this Tuesday," she says, and she wants to think that she doesn't know why she said it, but she does know; it's because when she says it, there's a glimmer of hope in Puck's eyes and his lips twitch and all she wants him to do is smirk at her like he always used to so that she knows that she hasn't hurt him so much that the old him is gone completely. "Come or don't come. It's honestly your choice," she says as she begins to walk away, but she halts for just a moment, turning her head to look at him as she adds, "but if you don't show, I'll know that you really are a Lima Loser." With that, she walks away, and she knows it's harsh, but she also knows that she only says it so that he'll show because she wants him to show up and support her _so badly_, even though she knows she doesn't deserve it.

She doesn't deserve _him_.

* * *

Sometimes, he watches her. She doesn't know it, he doesn't think, but he does. Before school, during, and sometimes after. He sometimes watches her on the weekends, and sometimes, he feels like a stalker, and maybe he kind of is, but he needs to see her and he's too much of a coward to approach her so this'll have to do for now. He likes to think that it won't be forever, that eventually he'll be able to talk to her, but he doesn't know if that's true. He just knows that he wants it to be, but as proven, he doesn't always get what he wants.

He's watching her right now, in the café she frequents with her fathers on Saturday mornings. He just wants to see if she's okay. The logical thing(he only knows what 'logical' means because of Rach - she teaches him things, like how to be smarter, but obviously not smart enough) would probably be to _ask _her if she's okay(even though he already knows the answer without having to ask), but he can't talk to her without things turning awkward, and lately, he's just had enough of awkward situations. Awkwardness is the whole reason he and Rachel quit talking in the first place.

She _looks _happy, sitting at her usual table in the corner, laughing with her fathers.

She looks beautiful, actually. She always does, but she's not dressed like she usually is. It's the weekend, and he knows, obviously, that on the weekend she dresses more casually, like a 'normal' teenage girl. She's wearing a yellow tank-top(he likes her in yellow because it always makes her skin looks like it's glowing and that just makes her prettier) and he can see that she's wearing jeans because her legs are sneaking out from under the table, and he can even see that she's wearing flip-flops, and it's nice, seeing her like that, so relaxed. He likes her sweaters and knee-socks, too, though. He thinks he actually likes those more, because they're more _Rachel_, and he likes that she's not afraid to be herself. He wishes he could one day say the same for himself.

It hurts him when he thinks she could have been his. Maybe she still can be, but he doubts it. He's screwed up too much. He's used her and hurt her one too many times, but he knows that if he hadn't been so dense, so stupid, things maybe could have been a little different. If he could have seen through Quinn, known that Drizzle(or whatever Puck and Quinn decide to name her) isn't his, he would have never used her; he would've dumped Quinn and asked Rachel out like he'd wanted to since he'd kissed her in the auditorium.

It still hurts him, knowing that the little girl isn't his. It hurts more than knowing that Quinn cheated on him, because he loved Quinn, but he realizes now that he didn't love her _enough_, not enough to not want to cheat on her with Rachel, and yeah, he did cheat, and he feels bad about that, but he never went as far as Quinn did. That's the difference.

All he can think when Rachel catches him staring is _'crap'_, because she's never caught him before, but it doesn't really bother him. The mixed emotions he can see on her face are enough to break his heart, enough to make that knot form in his stomach again and that lump in his throat grow bigger. He's tempted to go speak with her(he kind of always is), but just like the day before, and the day before that, and all the days before that, he stands up, turns, and walks away, not bothering to approach her and say something to her because he he doesn't know what to say.

(Only, he knows that's not true. He's just too scared to say what they both know she wants to hear.)

* * *

It's the unlikeliest of friendships - he's the pigheaded jerk, and she's the high-strung(he thinks she's insane) diva who makes him want to light himself on fire, but oddly enough, their friendship kind of just works. They click. They're so completely different that they're practically the same(it makes sense if you actually take the time to think about it). She's the only girl that's ever actually _listened _to him(aside from maybe Quinn, but he doesn't like to think about her because it's just not badass when he realizes how hurt he is when he does let himself think of her).

It all started about a week after Sectionals. Rachel had been feeling guilty for opening her big mouth and telling Finn the truth, so she'd shown up Sunday morning with Puck's favorite type of slushy and cupcakes that had 'I'm sorry' spelled out in black icing(see, she totally had listened to him that week they'd dated because black was so his favorite color).

Puck had, of course, accepted the cupcakes because one, they were _food_, and two, because he really saw no reason to be angry with Berry.

He'd invited Rachel inside for whatever reason(okay, so, it was because he was kind of sick of being stuck home alone, but he was a badass and he wasn't about to admit that to anyone, let alone Rachel frikkin' Berry), and it hadn't been as awful as he'd expected. They'd watched movies all day(after arguing for like, a million hours, Puck decided to just compromise with her because it got her to shut up - they ended up watching two musicals and two 'badass' movies) and he'd acted like _Noah_(which Rachel says is the side of him that she likes because Noah isn't an ass - okay, maybe she doesn't say ass, but it'd be pretty fucking sweet if she did). She'd left some time in the middle of the night, and out of the blue, the next day, after school, he'd invited her over for Pizza, and they'd had another movie night. And well, as they say, the rest is pretty much history.

The Glee kids, of course, drilled them about their new found friendship at first, but Puck told them it was none of their fucking business while glaring menacingly at the two gossip mongrels known as Kurt and Mercedes, and they'd all kind of just backed off. People still aren't used to it, but he thinks it's none of their business, anyway.

"_Noah_." Puck groans, because he knows Rachel's whiny tone means she's about to complain or go on a rant, and after his weird exchange with Quinn the previous day at school, he really isn't in the mood for Rachel's babbling. Besides, it's a Saturday night - he should be out with the guys, but instead, he's inside with Rachel freaking Berry, and it's really not all that weird anymore because Saturday nights are kind of _their _nights now(he refuses to tell her that because she'd probably break out the crazy and he's good without it), and besides, he would have felt a little bad leaving her alone after she called him earlier saying that Finn was being a fucking creeper and staring at her again(not her words, of course, but he does think it's kind of creepy that Hudson stares at her all the damn time). She'd just sounded all sad and shit, and he _cares_ about her(though, he will die before he ever admits that), so he just invited her over.

"I normally don't have any objections to the movies that you choose, I'm sure you're aware of that by now." He just nods when she looks at him expectantly because honestly, he's just preparing himself to tune her out because he does that a lot(though, he finds himself listening to her a lot more than he used to, which is weird, but whatever). "Most of them _are_ as lovely as you say they are," for the record, he does not use the word _lovely_; he calls them _'badass'_, "but I cannot bring myself to believe that _this_," she waves his Inglourious Bastards DVD case in front of his face and he simply rolls his eyes, "and do _not _roll yours eyes at me, Noah Puckerman," she huffs, and he just rolls his eyes again. "This movie just sounds absolutely, positively _ridiculous_!" she shouts, getting to her point a lot sooner than he expects. "It sounds vile and juvenile and the previews make it look rather immature. I'm losing brain cells just thinking about it, I'm sure."

He smirks, noting the sarcasm at the end of her little tirade. She's picked up on his sarcasm and he's pretty proud of that fact because _hello_, anyone who can make Rachel Berry use sarcasm and be all snarky deserves a fucking award of some sort.

"Berry, you made me watch _Funny Girl_," he argues, though it actually isn't that awful of a movie, though Rachel did cry at a lot of it, but he'd expected that, so, it's whatever. "This is pay pack, so shut it and watch the damn movie."

She scoffs, balling her small hands into fists and placing them directly at her sides. "I most certainly will _not _shut it, as you so nicely put it. I simply deny your request to watch this juvenile movie and I am afraid there is nothing you can do about it."

Puck opens his mouth to say that there are plenty of things he can do about it, but Rachel, _of course_, cuts him off before he can get a single word in. "Don't you _dare_ protest, Puckerman, or I will walk out that door and never return and you will be completely and utterly alone for the remainder of the night and the weekend until your mother and sister return from their trip."

Puck's gaze hardens upon hearing her words. He knows she's right(isn't she always?). He will be alone if she doesn't stay, and it doesn't make him particularly happy to know that Rachel Berry, of all people, is the one to remind him of that. She's supposed to be his friend or whatever, and here she is throwing his loneliness in his face. He can't blow her off or anything, though, because again, she's right, he has no one else; not really. He can't go to Finn because like hell, his once best friend is going to speak to him, and he sure as hell can't go to his baby mama because she doesn't want a damn thing to do with him(she's made it pretty clear that she wants to do this alone, but Puck doesn't give up that easily, and she's loco if she thinks that's the case). He can always go to Mike or Matt, but chances are, if Mike and Matt are around, then so is Finn(they're apparently the only two Finn will actually speak to now, which surprises the hell out of him because he thought Finn would have at least gone running into Rachel's arms, but obviously, that hasn't happened - stupid douche bag needs to suck up his damn pride and just talk to the crazy already), and it is a given that his once best friend doesn't want to be anywhere near him.

"My apologizes, Noah. I wasn't meaning to be harsh. It's just-" Puck clasps his hand over Rachel's mouth, effectively shutting her up.

Rachel sighs as Puck removes his hand from over her mouth. She isn't stupid, she realizes that her words may have hurt him just a little, but she honestly had not meant for them to come out such a way. "I didn't mean it in that way, Noah."

"I know you didn't, Berry." Puck smiles, reassuring her that it's fine. "Don't apologize. It's a sign of weakness."

"Did you just quote Gibbs from NCIS?" Rachel asks, and she has to keep herself from laughing at the expression on Puck's face after she speaks those words. He looks as though someone has just told him vampires are real(which, Rachel gathers, would make him ridiculously excited).

"You know about NCIS?" He looks kind of shocked and everything, because it's _Rachel_, who listens to Streisand and rants on and on forever about Broadway and stupid shit like that.

"Yes, actually, I do, and I'm offended that you seem to think otherwise," Rachel says, because she actually kind of is. Her peers seem to think that because she's into Broadway and can be very dramatic at times, it's near impossible for her to like anything non-dramatic, and that is simply not true. She happens to enjoy cop shows very much, actually.

Puck can't really tell if Rachel truly is offended or not, so he just apologizes because he isn't ready to screw up their friendship just yet, or ever, really, not that he'll ever admit that because he's a badass and badasses don't need anyone.

"How about we watch that, then?" Puck suggests, and he kind of has no idea _why _he even suggests it because Noah Puckerman _does not _compromise, but he seems to do a lot of things around Rachel that he isn't used to doing with other people, not even the Jolly Green Giant formerly known as his best friend.

Rachel smiles that brilliant, albeit creepy, smiles of hers that shows all of her freakishly white teeth and he decides _that's _why he compromised, because he really isn't as big of an ass as he comes off and if he has to choose a totally awesome tv show over a stupid movie that Berry doesn't want to watch in order to prove that, then so he'll do it because it feels good to have someone other than his mother believe in him.

* * *

Do they think she can't hear the whispers? Do they think she can't see the way they stare at her with judging eyes?

Now that Quinn thinks about it, they probably already know that she can hear the whispers and that she can see the judging glances constantly being sent her way, and gosh, she _hates _it. Going out for a drive is supposed to be relaxing, but everyone in Lima _knows _that's she pregnant and she knows they're all silently judging her. They probably feed off it, too, feed off the fact that she's vulnerable and their stares are clearly bothering her. The teenagers that she passes probably know, know that she isn't Queen Bee anymore and that Santana Lopez, of all people, runs the school now.

And again, she thinks about how it's all because she got drunk and had sex with Noah Puckerman.

_Puck. _Her heart aches at the thought of him. She'd been so rude to him earlier, and she feels _awful _about it. She called him a Lima Loser, _again_, and she doesn't like calling him that. She doesn't like seeing the flicker of hurt in his eyes, but she doesn't want to be susceptible to vulnerability by letting him in. She thinks maybe she already did when she told him about her appointment on Tuesday, but there's no guarantee that he'll show, though a big part of her wants to believe that he _will_(an even bigger part of thinks that she knows he will).

She needs to get away from all these stares, but she refuses to return to the Puckerman's right at this very moment because she isn't exactly ready to face Puck after their 'talk' at school(the previous night, she'd stayed at Mercedes' because she hadn't wanted to face him so soon). Besides, she knows that Rachel will be there and she still doesn't know how to face her after everything, even though she knows, because of their glee project, she'll be spending more time with Rachel than one will even deem necessary because Rachel has to have everything _perfect_. She knows she won't have much patience when it comes to working with Rachel, but she's at least willing to _try _because she sometimes says things to Rachel that she really doesn't want to say, but that bitchy cheerleader side of her always seems to come out around the brunette and she hates it. She's tired of being mean to people because that isn't who she is and she's tired of trying to be something she isn't just to please the others around her.

So, instead of returning 'home'(it feels weird to think of Puck's house as her home, because it just doesn't _feel _like home to her), she ends up driving to _her _home, or rather, what _used_ to be her home before her father had kicked her out for getting knocked up. She's a Christian girl and Christian girls aren't supposed to screw up.

She sits in the driveway, staring up at the place that she finds herself missing more and more with every day that passes. Neither her mother nor father are home; she would have never shown up if they were, because her father probably would have her chased away and she probably wouldn't blame him.

"I am so sorry," she whispers, her voice cracking as tears form in her eyes. Not even one minute passes before the tears start falling, and she just lets them because she's so tired of fighting it. She's _scared_, and she's hurting, and she's so _alone_, and she _needs _to cry because she's so fed up with trying to be strong all of the time.

She _isn't _strong. She's broken, and she needs _someone_, anyone, but she pushes away anyone that ever tries to help her because she doesn't want to let them down.

She feels like such a failure, and she just wants it all to stop... the pain, _everything_, she wants it to disappear, but life isn't that simple, not for her. Not for anyone.

* * *

Puck isn't entirely positive how much time has passed since he and Berry started watching television, but she's curled up in a fucking ball(he honestly has no idea how one girl can be _that _tiny) on the opposite end of the couch and her eyes are closed and she's breathing really softly, so she must be sleeping, so he figures it must have been at least a couple of hours.

He probably should be driving Rachel home right now, but honestly, he doesn't care about that because he _enjoys _having her there, and neither his mother, or his little sister are around so he needs someone to be there because he doesn't like being alone much these days since when he's alone, he thinks a lot and his thought process flips him the fuck out because he's always thinking about his _feelings _and shit and that shit just doesn't fly because Puck is a badass and badasses don't have feelings - 'least, he doesn't think they're supposed to, anyway.

He is kind of worried about Quinn, though. She's normally home by now, but he tries not to be too worried because she's probably just avoiding Rachel, and it's such a Quinn thing to do, but he's still a _little _worried because she's carrying his kid and she's out there all alone(probably, he's assuming) and he doesn't want anything bad to happen to her or their kid.

And to be honest, he kind of like, cares about her(a lot more than he's willing to admit to himself, actually, or to anyone), so yeah, maybe he is a little more than just a little worried.

"Puck?" Puck turns his head and looks up, wondering how on earth he'd missed the sound of the door opening. Oh well, that actually isn't important. Quinn's home now, so he can stop his worrying and that's kind of a relief.

Though, he still kind of is worried because she normally goes out of her way to _avoid _Rachel, so showing up when she _knows _Rachel is going to be there is totally _not _normal Quinn behavior. Not that he's complaining because he isn't, and he's glad to see her there, though his worry kind of intensifies when he sees the way her eyes look all red and puffy and he _knows _she's been crying, which isn't like Quinn _at all_ because she normally acts all strong even though Puck knows it's really just an act but never knows how to say so 'cause he just doesn't _do _crying girls.

Berry and Quinn seem to be the two exceptions(aside from his mom and sister, of course), because well, shit, Berry is his _best friend_(which is really fucking weird to think about, but it's there and it isn't going away anytime soon and he really doesn't want it to) and no one messes with Puck's best friend(plus, when she cries, her big, brown eyes look all sad and shit and it's like looking at a wounded puppy dog), and Quinn's his _baby momma _and the girl he maybe, possibly loves, and he'll be damned if anyone's going to hurt her(he thinks maybe he's hurt her enough already). Plus, he isn't going to run away from the girl he may possibly be in love with, even though the idea of being in love scares the hell out of him because Noah Puckerman is _not _supposed to become attached or whatever, but Quinn's _different_. She's like, the exception to the rule, and not just 'cause she's pregnant... she's always kind of been the _exception_ because she's Quinn Fabray and he always swore if he ever got a girl like _her _to notice him, he'd make pretty damn sure that what he has with her is different. Of course, not everything goes as planned because he'd gotten her drunk on wine coolers because she'd felt _fat_(which he will always think is ridiculous because doesn't she realize that she's kind of fucking _perfect?_) and had sex with her and knocked her up _while she was dating his best friend._

"Do you want to talk about it?" She looks kind of shocked that he's even asking, which probably would have annoyed him in the past, but not so much anymore. He never really tries to talk to her about how she's feeling. Yeah, he's promised to be there and support her and all that other stuff that _his _father had never done for him and his sister, but he never actually asks how she's doing because he really does hate talking about feelings and Quinn's a girl and as mentioned, he doesn't know how to deal really well with crying girls.

"I don't think we should. Not with her here," she says, pointing towards the sleeping girl on the couch and Puck doesn't really know what to say to that because he isn't about to just wake Rachel up, but Quinn's willing to talk to him, and Quinn is never willing to do anything with him these days, so he isn't about to turn her away, either. Besides, from what Rachel said earlier, he's assuming that Quinn will have to get used to having Rachel around, anyway, so why not start now?

"She's harmless," Puck insists, but Quinn just shakes her head 'no' and he sighs, but he's not giving up that easily. He's still Noah Puckerman. "We'll go upstairs," he says, carefully jumping up from the couch and uncharacteristically taking Quinn by the hand, which seems to shock her enough for her not to protest. "She could sleep forever if someone let her, trust me. We'll be fine."

Quinn seems to trust him on that, which feels pretty fucking good because that means she _trusts _him, to some extent, and he sometimes feels like maybe she hates him a bit(and she has every right to, he thinks), so it feels nice to know that maybe isn't as true as he thinks. She smiles and lets her lead him up the stairs to her guest bedroom and Puck finds himself thinking that maybe, just maybe, they're finally getting somewhere.

* * *

**Before anyone says anything about it, which I'm sure someone _will_, I know that Christian girls can make mistakes(I am one, after all). I know no one is perfect, but thinking like the teenage girl that Quinn Fabray is, you have to realize that she's going to think she has to be perfect. **

**Oh, don't be surprised if, should I find the inspiration to continue, Quinn and Rachel's song choice for their duet changes to something entirely different.**

**Not a lot of Finchel in this chapter, I know, but this story doesn't focus solely on them. I think, you know, they all need a bit of fixing. I wish Ryan would have delved deeper into the aftermath of 'babygate' because I don't feel like Quinn and Puck could have just gotten over it as easily as it seems they have. Glee definitely disappoints when it comes to continuity. **

**As for Rachel and Finn this season, they're annoying me. At least, they were for the first few episodes. My faith in Glee was restored with the previous night's episode, 'Duets.' Oh, and Sam and Quinn look very pretty together, though I'm all for Quinn and Puck. **

**Anywho, review or don't review, I don't really care either way, but if you do review, be constructive, not harsh.  
**


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